Destination Site Research Articles

Scoping Report on the Legal Impacts of BEAMING Presence Technologies

BEAMING is an emerging technology – focused on enhancing vision, sounds and physical contact in a telecommunications context.The BEAMING project (sponsored by the European Commission FP7) seeks to build upon existing technologies such as advanced video conferencing, shared virtual environments, and gaming environments such as ‘Second Life’, by developing a communications technology which aims at giving people a real sense of physically being in another location with other people, and vice versa - without actually physically travelling. Unlike virtual reality where the user is totally immersed in a computer-generated real world, augmented reality, which is used in BEAMING, combines both real and virtual objects and gives them a real-life experience and when operational will enhance physical and mental interactions. It also allows for physical interaction in the above process. The visitor’s actions at the destination site can, therefore, have physical consequences; and likewise, the actions of local people at the destination site can have physical consequences for the visitor. At the current time there would appear to be no specific legislation in the EU, or anywhere else, expressly covering the use of BEAMING, or other presence technologies. The question as to how the legal principles that are in place will apply to BEAMING, or other presence technologies, has been subject to very little sustained academic or judicial analysis thus far. This is not unsurprising because BEAMING is essentially a new technology which is at an early development stage. Therefore, it is not going to be entirely possible to predict the precise impact that BEAMING technologies might have in EU legal systems in the coming years. Original analysis is given in this report in relation to its possible impact, when operational, on many discrete areas of law – including its use as evidence in court, criminal law, contract law, privacy and security, provision of services and intellectual property.

Placelessness in a Deregulated City: University Village in Colorado Springs

Urban renewal infill projects adjacent to university campuses provide ideal opportunities to create mixed-use landscapes with lasting character and strong place identity, especially when planning guidelines promote sustainability and smart growth principles. Despite such conditions, powerful growth coalitions can still manipulate the development process so that projects are altered to serve their own interests. This research examines how an innovative infill project in Colorado Springs devolved into a very traditional, automobile-oriented big-box shopping center unlikely to serve the needs of students or create a lively destination site. We analyze the strategies of powerful stakeholders and public agencies during the development process to determine how such a breakdown could occur. We conclude that a deregulated political culture empowers the growth machine coalition to define the "reality" of what can and cannot be built, perpetuating the creation of placeless, generic landscapes insensitive to local site characteristics or alternative visions.

Approaches for Compression of Super-Resolution WSR-88D Data

Weather radar products from the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) are used by the government and private sectors. Very high resolution radar data are increasingly being utilized in real time. However, the bandwidth needed to transmit these data (termed level-II super-resolution data) from the radar to the destination site is a limiting issue. General-purpose compression programs are not tuned to the properties of weather radar data. As the NWS continues to upgrade the capabilities of radar network, the amount of data will continue to increase. As a result, compression is of vital interest to keep down maintenance, storage, and transmission costs. A method for lossless compression of these data on a radial-by-radial basis focusing on the delta (difference) between range bins of super-resolution radar data is presented and is called super-resolution delta compression (SRDC). There are several specialized aspects of SRDC that are based on the properties of weather radar data. SRDC was tested on level-II reflectivity product data from several S-band Doppler weather radars in the NWS network and was compared with two general-purpose compression programs and a different weather-radar-specific compression approach. The results show that the newly developed SRDC yield is approximately 17% better than the next best approach and approximately 47% better than only preprocessed radials.

Does Sustainable Certification Knowledge Influence Tourist Behavior?

In this study, the investigators use scores from the Tourist Ecological Orientation (TEO) Scale (Uriely, Reichel & Shani, 2007) of Costa Rica visitors to understand how their ecological orientation and interest in ecological practices influence accommodation and destination site choices. Results from this study were intended to be used to inform professionals in the tourism industry on how they might best develop their tourism sites, policies and programs according to the ecological orientation of the visitors. Based on the findings from this study, however, it seems that the Tourist Ecological Orientation Score derived by Uriely, Reichel and Shani (2007) is not appropriate for differentiating tourist behaviors. As such, it is not recommended for use in developing sites, policies and programs or otherwise marketing them to tourists.

Canadian medical tourism companies that have exited the marketplace: Content analysis of websites used to market transnational medical travel

BackgroundMedical tourism companies play an important role in promoting transnational medical travel for elective, out-of-pocket medical procedures. Though researchers are paying increasing attention to the global phenomenon of medical tourism, to date websites of medical tourism companies have received limited scrutiny. This article analyzes websites of Canadian medical tourism companies that advertised international healthcare but ultimately exited the marketplace. Using content analysis of company websites as an investigative tool, the article provides a detailed account of medical tourism companies that were based in Canada but no longer send clients to international health care facilities.MethodsInternet searches, Google Alerts, searches on Google News Canada and ProQuest Newsstand, and searches of an Industry Canada database were used to locate medical tourism companies located in Canada. Once medical tourism companies were identified, the social science research method of content analysis was used to extract relevant information from company websites. Company websites were analyzed to determine: 1) where these businesses were based; 2) the destination countries and medical facilities that they promoted; 3) the health services they advertised; 4) core marketing messages; and 5) whether businesses marketed air travel, hotel accommodations, and holiday excursions in addition to medical procedures.ResultsIn total, 25 medical tourism companies that were based in Canada are now defunct. Given that an estimated 18 medical tourism companies and 7 regional, cross-border medical travel facilitators now operate in Canada, it appears that approximately half of all identifiable medical tourism companies in Canada are no longer in business. 13 of the previously operational companies were based in Ontario, 7 were located in British Columbia, 4 were situated in Quebec, and 1 was based in Alberta. 14 companies marketed medical procedures within a single country, 9 businesses marketed health care at 2 or more destination nations, and 2 companies did not specify particular health care destinations. 22 companies operated as "generalist" businesses marketing many different types of medical procedures. 3 medical tourism companies marketed "specialist" services restricted to dental procedures or organ transplants. In general, medical tourism companies marketed health services on the basis of access to affordable, timely, and high-quality care. 16 businesses offered to make travel arrangements, 20 companies offered to book hotel reservations, and 17 medical tourism companies advertised holiday excursions.ConclusionsThis article provides a detailed empirical analysis of websites of medical tourism companies that were based in Canada but exited the marketplace and are now inoperative. The article identifies where these companies were located in Canada, what countries and health care facilities they selected as destination sites, the health services they advertised, how they marketed themselves in a competitive environment, and what travel-related services they promoted in addition to marketing health care. The paper reveals a fluid marketplace, with many medical tourism companies exiting this industry. In addition, by disclosing identities of companies, providing their websites, archiving these websites or print copies of websites for future studies, and analyzing content of medical tourism company websites, the article can serve as a useful resource for future studies. Citizens, health policy-makers, clinicians, and researchers can all benefit from increased insight into Canada's medical tourism industry.

Doxorubicin Encapsulated Nanocarriers for Targeted Delivery to Estrogen Responsive Breast Cancer

The encapsulation of anticancer agent in carrier system protects healthy tissues from its cytotoxic effects. In the present study estrogen receptor targeted liposomes encapsulating doxorubicin was designed to enhance the efficiency of delivery of doxorubicin to its destination site. The liposomal formulations showed change in the biodistribution profile. Targeted formulation accumulates more in breast and uterine tissues. ER-targeted formulation of antineoplastic agents could be potentially useful for treatment of ER positive tumors such as breast and uterus.

Transportation Rate Analysis of Waterborne Trip Movements on Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West

The limitations of and the alternative methodologies for field data collection used to estimate transportation rates from origin to destination—including transfer and handling fees—for 40 commodity movements on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West and alternative rail or truck land routings were studied. The study was intended to be a small-scale scoping exercise for the research team to benchmark more extensive efforts required to conduct future work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The study was originally intended to be based on field-collected data, but the researchers encountered stiff resistance from terminal operators when requesting cost information as well as substantial inaccuracies with the contact and ownership information contained in the trip data files and Port Series Reports of the USACE Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center. Therefore, it was necessary to use the Barge Costing Model (BCM) and the researchers' experience to develop transportation rates for most of the movements. The study found that no off-river origin or destination sites were associated with any of the movements. Barge shipment was found to be the least-cost alternative for every movement and, in most cases (38 of the 40 movements), the least-cost and most practical land-only transportation alternative to barge was rail. Detailed rate sheets for each of the 40 commodity movements were developed. The study concluded that in future research efforts, it will be vital to include barge operators in the data collection effort to verify the BCM and the researchers' assumptions.

DAM, YouTube is great for video, but it is NOT digital asset management

YouTube is an awesome destination site for videos, but it is not a digital asset management (DAM) tool. It is important to understand the distinction between video destination sites like YouTube and DAM systems as the central marketing hub. This article examines the key differences between YouTube and DAM and takes a deeper dive into how DAM solutions help marketing organizations best leverage digital assets to build brand equity and increase return on marketing investments.

Adenosine A2A Receptor Is Involved in Cell Surface Expression of A2B Receptor

The A2A and A2B adenosine receptors (A2AR and A2BR) are implicated in many physiological processes. However, the mechanisms of their intracellular maturation and trafficking are poorly understood. In comparative studies of A2AR versus A2BR expression in transfected cells, we noticed that the levels of cell surface expression of A2BR were significantly lower than those of A2AR. A large portion of the A2BR was degraded by the proteasome. Studies of cell surface expression of A2BR chimeric molecules in transfectants suggested that A2BR does not have the dominant forward transport signal for export from the endoplasmic reticulum to the cell surface. A2BR surface expression was increased in A2BR chimeras where the A2BR carboxyl terminus (CT) was replaced or fused with the A2AR CT. Co-transfection of A2AR with A2BR enhanced surface expression of A2BR though the F(X)(6)LL motif in the A2AR CT. The requirements of A2AR expression for better A2BR cell surface expression was not only established in transfectants but also confirmed by observations of much lower levels of A2BR-induced intracellular cAMP accumulation in response to A2BR-activating ligand in splenocytes from A2AR(-/-) mice than in wild type mice. The results of mechanistic studies suggested that poor A2BR expression at the cell surface might be accounted for mainly by the lack of a dominant forward transport signal from the endoplasmic reticulum to the plasma membrane; it is likely that A2BR forms a hetero-oligomer complex for better function.

A demand-driven virtual disk prefetch mechanism for seamless mobility of personal computing environments

In this paper, we propose a demand-driven virtual disk (VD) prefetch mechanism—DPM—to improve the performance of virtual machine (VM) at destination site for mobile personal computing environments. DPM uses an extended CoW (Copy-on-Write) virtual block device to split the traditional monolithic large-sized VD image into multiple small-sized SVD (Software Virtual Disk) images at a basic granularity of a single kind of software. Based on the fine-grained VD splitting, DPM uses an access frequency and dynamic priority-based prefetch target identifying-APTI algorithm to identify the SVDs of the software being used by the user at destination site, and prefetches those SVDs by utilizing P2P transportation mechanism at background. We have built a prototype to realize DPM on Xen virtual machine monitor (VMM). Experiments on the prototype show that DPM can effectively improve the VM performance at an unexpected destination site without any cached VD state, being helpful in achieving seamless mobility of personal computing environments in distributed virtual machine environments.

Cholesterol Embolization Syndrome

Cholesterol embolization syndrome refers to embolization of the contents of an atherosclerotic plaque (primarily cholesterol crystals) from a proximal large-caliber artery to distal small to medium arteries causing end-organ damage by mechanical plugging and an inflammatory response. Synonyms used in the medical literature include atheromatous embolization, cholesterol crystal embolization, and atheroembolism. Cholesterol embolization syndrome should be distinguished from the related and much more common syndrome of arterio-arterial thromboembolism in which fragments of a thrombus that forms atop an atheromatous plaque in the aorta or a large artery travel distally and occlude medium to large arteries.1 Cholesterol embolization syndrome is generally characterized by a multitude of small emboli (showers of microemboli) occurring over time. This is in contrast to arterio-arterial thromboembolism, which is usually characterized by an abrupt release of 1 or a few large emboli, leading to severe ischemia of target organs. Cholesterol embolization syndrome has a variety of clinical presentations. Cholesterol emboli originating in the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta may lead to renal failure, gut ischemia, and emboli to the skeletal muscles and the skin. Dermatologic manifestations (most commonly livedo reticularis and blue toe syndrome) are usually confined to the lower extremities but may extend to the abdomen and the chest. Cholesterol emboli originating in the ascending aorta may in addition cause neurological damage that is typically diffuse and due to small infarcts. Cholesterol embolization syndrome is also characterized by a nonspecific acute inflammatory response leading to constitutional symptoms (such as fever and malaise) and abnormalities in laboratory tests (such as hypereosinophilia and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate). These manifestations will be discussed in detail later in the text. Danish physician Fenger and his colleagues appear to have provided the first description of atheroembolism in the Danish medical brochure Ugeskrift for Laeger (Doctors’ Weekly).2 In 1844, they …

Operation Mechanism of a Molecular Machine Revealed Using Time-Resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy

Rotaxanes comprise macrocycles that can shuttle between docking stations along an axle. We explored the nanosecond shuttling mechanism by reversing the relative binding affinities of two stations through ultraviolet-induced transient reduction. We monitored the ensuing changes in the CO-stretching bands of the two stations and the shuttling macrocycle by means of an infrared probing pulse. Because hydrogen-bond scission and formation at the initial and final stations led to well-resolved changes in the respective CO-stretch frequencies, the departure and arrival of the macrocycle could be observed separately. We found that the shuttling involves two steps: thermally driven escape from the initial station, followed by rapid motion along the track ending either at the initial or final station. By varying the track's length, we found that the rapid motion approximates a biased one-dimensional random walk. However, surprisingly, the direction of the overall motion is opposite that of the bias.

Provisioning Subwavelength Multicast Sessions With Flexible Scheduling Over WDM Networks

The distribution of large data sets from a centralized node to several destination sites is frequently required by many data-intensive networking applications; this distribution can be efficiently achieved by the means of multicasting. Multicasting has been typically considered for on-demand applications and services, e.g., video-on-demand, IPTV, etc., which usually require start of data transmission immediately. We consider that multicast sessions can be provisioned starting with flexible times and that the multicast client can specify a maximum allowed time by which all data needs to be delivered to destinations. This is true for e-Science and high-performance applications, in which data distribution is not necessarily immediate. In this paper, we study the problem of provisioning dynamic multicast data-distribution requests (MDDRs) with flexible scheduling over optical WDM networks. We consider the practical case of fractional-capacity multicast sessions that require less than the entire wavelength capacity (nodes are equipped with multicast-capable opaque switches). We devise provisioning methods based on the multicast tree (or light-tree) distribution model. In our first approach (named Rand), we generate multiple randomized alternate trees on which we try to provision the multicast session and then assign wavelengths and schedule the session. In our second approach (named AllSlots), we dynamically generate light-trees depending on the network state. In our next approach (named Break), when provisioning an entire tree fails, we try to “break” the tree into time-independent subtrees. We also study the impact of allowing data to be buffered at intermediary nodes and then transmitted toward destinations (method named Buffer) and consider an approach that partitions the data sets. Finally, we study the impact of the switch architecture on our provisioning by restricting our approaches to full-wavelength MDDRs.

Travel Immunization Update for Older Adults

Older Americans are among the most widely traveled group in our society. Recent trends point to more international travel, more travel to Third World countries, and more travel by older adults with significant health problems. Regardless of the reason for travel, older adults need to plan for healthy travel. Primary care providers need to inquire at routine visits if patients have plans for international travel. If travel to other countries or regions is being considered, patients must be advised of the importance of early travel preparation. To begin with, older adults should be up to date on all routine immunizations. Those planning on international travel may need additional required and/or recommended immunizations, depending on the individual's health status, travel itinerary, length of stay, and health risks associated with destination sites. Primary care providers should be knowledgeable about travel medicine resources in the community to make referrals for travelers requiring additional immunizations and health information.

Buffer Control for Guaranteeing User-Level QoS of Continuous Media Flows

研究了缓存控制对媒体流用户层QoS 的影响.多媒体系统信宿端通常采用播放缓存来补偿时延抖动,提高媒体流播放的连续性.缓存控制虽然能够降低时延抖动的影响,却增加了端到端时延.时延或时延抖动是用户可感知的QoS 参数,缓存控制对用户层QoS 的影响究竟如何呢?利用已有的应用层向用户层QoS 映射的研究结果,分析缓存控制参数与端到端QoS 参数、应用层QoS 参数的关系,获得了缓存控制参数与用户层QoS 参数的关系.从理论上深入挖掘缓存控制对用户层QoS 参数的作用,给出了提供确定时延和时延抖动保障的缓存容量值,论证了在网络环境一定时存在提供最佳用户层QoS 的缓存容量值.实验结果验证了分析.;A study on the effect of buffer control on user-level QoS of media flows is presented. In multimedia systems, playout buffer at the destination site is often adopted to compensate the delay jitter and improve the continuity of information playback. Buffer contol can reduce the effect of the delay jitter but increase the end-to-end delay. As delay and delay jitter are both the user-perceived QoS parameters, how does buffer control affect user-level QoS? By utilizing the former results on QoS mapping from application-level to user-level, and by investigating the relation between the buffer control parameter, end-to-end-level QoS parameters and application-level QoS parameters, the relationship between the buffer control parameter and user-level QoS parameter is obtained. The effect of buffer control on user-level QoS having been studied in-depth with theoretical analysis. The buffer size providing determinate delay and delay jitter guarantee is found and the buffer size providing the optimal user-level QoS for a certain network condition is demonstrated. Experimental results validate the analysis.

Online Consumer Search Strategies for Smoking-Cessation Information

For many Americans, the Internet has become a primary mechanism for locating information on healthcare and treatment options, including tobacco addiction. Detailed information on this behavior could inform design decisions for next-generation cessation interventions, but very little is known about how consumers search or what resources they locate. A subset of a publicly available, anonymized record of the search behavior of 650,000 individuals over 3 months in 2006 was analyzed. Smoking cessation-related queries were extracted and coded via manual identification of terms and by back-identifying terms by matching them to the websites ultimately visited. Destination sites were coded as to whether or not they originated from a professional source based on the literature and known healthcare organizations. A total of 628 individuals (0.10%) made 1106 cessation-related searches during the observation period. Of these, 76% resulted in the individual reaching a website; professional sites were reached by only 34% of searchers. Complementary or alternative therapies were popular, with 10% of individuals searching for "laser" therapy. A concerning disconnect exists between consumer demand (as demonstrated by search behavior) and the sites produced by researchers and health professionals. This "demand gap" may contribute to low overall participation rates and hamper the potential impact of such systems. Further research is needed to link online consumer preferences to intervention design decisions.

A microfluidic platform for complete mammalian cell culture

We introduce the first lab-on-a-chip platform for complete mammalian cell culture. The new method is powered by digital microfluidics (DMF), a technique in which nanolitre-sized droplets are manipulated on an open surface of an array of electrodes. This is the first application of DMF to adherent cell culture and analysis, and more importantly, represents the first microfluidic platform capable of implementing all of the steps required for mammalian cell culture-cell seeding, growth, detachment, and re-seeding on a fresh surface. Three key innovations were required to implement complete cell culture on a microfluidic device: (1) a technique for growing cells on patterned islands (or "adhesion pads") positioned on an array of DMF actuation electrodes; (2) a method for rapidly and efficiently exchanging media and other reagents on cells grown on adhesion pads; and (3) a system capable of detachment and collection of cells from an (old) origin site and delivery to a (new) destination site for subculture. The new technique was applied to cells from several different lines which were seeded and repeatedly subcultured for weeks at a time in 150 nL droplets. Cells handled in this manner exhibited growth characteristics and morphology comparable to those cultured in standard tissue culture vessels. To illustrate an application for this system, a microfluidic method was developed to implement transient transfection-we propose that the combination of this technique with multigenerational culture allows for "on-demand" generation of transiently transfected cells. Broadly, we anticipate that the automated cell microculture technique presented here will be useful in myriad applications that would benefit from automated mammalian cell culture.

Vulnerability of Victims of Civil Conflicts: Empirical Evidence for the Displaced Population in Colombia

Internal conflicts and the forced displacement often caused by such conflicts impose a heavy burden on the civilian population and greatly damage a community’s overall welfare. The present study employs a household-level survey administered to 2,322 Colombian displaced households to estimate changes in household welfare after displacement and to assess aggregate consumption levels in destination sites. We also assess whether households are able to smooth consumption, and we analyze the strategies they are compelled to adopt in order to cope. Our results indicate that victims of civil conflict face difficulties in generating income, are unable to rely on usual risk-sharing mechanisms, and are forced to draw upon costly coping strategies in order to smooth consumption. The vulnerability of displaced households, and the possibility of falling into poverty traps, highlight the need to design and implement specific policies for victims of internal conflict in order to cope with the displacement shock.

Effects of conspecific and heterospecific residents on patterns of immigration in two species of voles

Studies with birds have shown that presence and density of resident conspecifics and heterospecifics can influence patterns of habitat selection. There have been few studies on the effects of social cues on rates of immigration in mammals. We report results from a long-term live trapping study of immigration in two species of voles, Microtus ochrogaster Wagner, 1842 and Microtus pennsylvanicus Ord, 1815, in bluegrass habitat in east-central Illinois, USA. We compare immigration into control sites from which no individuals of either species were removed with immigration into experimental sites from which either conspecifics or heterospecifics were removed. We focus on characteristics of immigrants and rates of immigration in relation to density in destination habitats. Within each species, immigrants into control and removal sites were similar with respect to body mass and reproductive condition, indicating no major differences in the physical condition of immigrants into sites with established populations and sites without established populations. For both species, density of conspecifics at a site positively influenced rate of immigration at that site. Density of heterospecifics at destination sites did not significantly influence rate of immigration for either species. These results suggest that site selection by dispersing M. ochrogaster and M. pennsylvanicus is characterized by conspecific attraction.

Long-range energy transfer in proteins

Proteins are large and complex molecular machines. In order to perform their function, most of them need energy, e.g. either in the form of a photon, as in the case of the visual pigment rhodopsin, or through the breaking of a chemical bond, as in the presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Such energy, in turn, has to be transmitted to specific locations, often several tens of Å away from where it is initially released. Here we show, within the framework of a coarse-grained nonlinear network model, that energy in a protein can jump from site to site with high yields, covering in many instances remarkably large distances. Following single-site excitations, few specific sites are targeted, systematically within the stiffest regions. Such energy transfers mark the spontaneous formation of a localized mode of nonlinear origin at the destination site, which acts as an efficient energy-accumulating center. Interestingly, yields are found to be optimum for excitation energies in the range of biologically relevant ones.